Contributed by Sammy Taylor
Too bad I couldn’t have applied to Mid Valley Recycling for a five thousand dollar grant back in the day! Before recycling started at Big Lake I often mused, “man, there’s a lot of styrofoam being thrown away at the transfer site. If I could grind it, I could make bean bag chairs and sell them in Freddie’s.” I even researched it a bit. Back then I found that a Styrofoam “gobbler” could be purchased in the lower 48 for about $8000.
Today, someone with a similar idea -for using Valley-collected recyclables or other discarded material – can apply for a grant to develop that idea. Applications are open until January 30, 2023.
Grants offered – three thousand to youth and five thousand to adults – could really make it possible for someone to take that weird idea (like turning styrofoam into beanbag chairs) and make it happen.
So much usable stuff is tossed in the landfill! There are not enough local uses for all these valuable resources. Too bad it has to take up space in a hole in the ground or be shipped south if it’s recycled when it could be re-manufactured right here in the Mat-Su.
As most Valley recyclers know, there are ways to keep a lot of stuff out of that hole in the ground. Our local Valley Community for Recycling Solutions (VCRS), has found markets for all twelve categories of material collected. In the lower 48 plastics are turned into fleece and plastic lumber, mixed paper is used for cement forms, aluminum and steel cans are remanufactured into more aluminum and steel cans.
In the lower 48, some cities are collecting glass that is ground and sold as traction sand for winter driving. Glass can be turned into fiberglass or sand blasting material. In Anchorage, one company makes countertops with recycled glass. Our local recycling center has not found a buyer for glass and it’s too expensive to haul elsewhere. Therefore, it is not collected at this time.
So far, VCRS has found only one local buyer for its collected materials. Thermo-kool buys some corrugated cardboard and all the newspaper VCRS collects to make insulation, hydro-seed, and livestock bedding. Thermo-kool creates nine jobs here in the Valley. This success is what Mid Valley Recycling wants to duplicate by offering grants to local youth and adults who have good ideas for making new products in the Valley from recyclables collected here.
Individuals and groups can apply for these grants by filling out an application which is available on the Mid Valley Recycling Facebook page, the VCRS website, by calling Jo at 907-892-2400, or by emailing taylorsammy230@gmail.com.
How can Valley residents make picture frames, countertops, fiberglass, lumber, fleece, new containers, or any other products from recyclables?
Turn your good idea into three thousand dollars (if you’re 21 and under) or even five thousand dollars (if you’re an adult). Currently, there’s not much competition. So, now’s your chance to make some money!